Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 2)

286 Some Insights Without Experience

While the research of the half-bloods was coming to an end, so was the painting competition over in the demon realm. In fact, tomorrow would be the final day during which Ye Yang intended to cast his own vote for one of the paintings and conclude everything with the counting of the votes and a speech. Today though, he was once again busy showing his face.

Ye Yang had lived through the reigns of several demon kings: The very short-lived one-day rule of Yong Hai who had only been able to snatch the throne thanks to Jin Ling's disinterest, Jin Ling's own period which he had even helped bring about back then, the rapid changes of kings before that, including the reign of Huo Yan who had been killed by the incumbent dragon king, and finally Jian Heng's time on the throne. Summarizing what he had learned through all those years, there were a few requirements to not just accede to the throne but actually keep it.

One part of it was having a clear vision of where you wanted to go. The other part was being present and communicating that goal every step of the way. Otherwise, the most beautiful future you envisioned would only be perceived by you and unrest was easy to erupt, making everything come crumbling down.

This was likely the problem that had caused Jin Ling to lose the throne and finally his life: He might have had some destination in mind but he kept to himself and didn't like to communicate too much about it. At first, the trust in him was high due to being Jian Heng's son and showcasing some of the things the demons had admired about his father. But that could only get you so far and while the dragon realm stabilized again under Longjun Qiu Ling's reign, things in the demon realm didn't even seem to budge an inch. Of course, people became dissatisfied over time which gave Yong Hai the chance to bewitch others and take over.

Ye Yang didn't want to be king but he wanted his homeland to thrive and, of course, he didn't want to be assassinated in his sleep for his position. Being a good king was the prerequisite for both to work out. After all, there didn't seem to be a good candidate around who could successfully lead the demon race toward a brighter future. Thus, he could only learn from the past and execute his plan step by step.

So far, everything was going according to his imagination but tomorrow was the day which would reveal whether or not this path could lead to long-term change. He believed that there was a chance and that his vision wasn't without base but there was also an element of uncertainty about everything. Even though he had lived for a long time and even been close to the center of power more than once, this was the first year of his own reign. How much experience could he have?

Leading a country wasn't easy. There were too many big and small matters to take care of every day and he simply couldn't deal with all of them. The number of people he could entrust with some of those tasks was also limited which really didn't help. To be honest, all of this was giving him quite the headache.

Ye Yang sighed inwardly but his expression didn't change as he once again walked through the pagoda holding the paintings of the competition, glancing at the guests as he walked. He didn't want to give any thoughts away whether it was about the competition or his general struggles. Showing weakness just wasn't something you could do in this place.

He looked at the last painting on this floor and then took the stairs up to the final floor. Just as usual, there weren't as many visitors up there compared to the ground floor. Not everyone had the patience to look through all the paintings and some people only came to show themselves anyway. He couldn't change it, not in the short term anyway, and right now, he wasn't too sad about it either.

During these days, the paintings on this floor were the landscape and nature paintings and his favorite artwork actually hung among these. Even though he hadn't announced it yet and wasn't showing any preference for any of them, that didn't mean that he hadn't long since made a decision in his heart. And frankly, being able to walk up here and look at it for just a moment every day made him feel that the pain of being king was eased at least a little.

He consciously made sure that his steps remained the same and walked around the floor, taking a moment to look at every painting and paying attention to all the guests around, treating anything and anyone equally. Finally, he reached the corner and for just a moment, the floor seemed a little more silent.

The painting was made of colorful ink or maybe it was wrong to speak of 'colorful'. Actually, it was a rather understated piece: Gray mountains towered in the distance, dark clouds hovering in the sky above, and gray stone also filled the center of the artwork. Snow covered part of the ground but it seemed negligible in front of the overwhelming grayness.

At first glance, the painting was all gray-in-gray, easy to overlook or discount as an almost blank canvas if you were in a hurry while oppressive when taking more than a fleeting glance. If you actually studied it, you would find that this piece hid a treasure though: The stone in the front of the painting was cracked and in the darkness below, a single flower carefully raised its head, a smidgen of light exposing a trace of blue.